Louder Than Thunder
by AngelsEnvy24
Summary: ZDF veteran Koda Clawthorn has had a harder life than most. Follow his story as he tries to overcome the demons of his past, which grow more restless every day. Action, drama, heartbreak, and redemption are the traffic of our stage. Witness the lives of Zootopia's every day citizens, with cameos from our favorites from the film, of course.


**Heya!**

 **If the summary wasn't clear, this is a highly OC-focused story. There are so many awesome fics out there that of course feature our favorite heroes, so I wanted to break the mold a little bit and explore what the rest of Zootopia is like in my head.**

 **There will be action, there will be drama, and there will even be a healthy dose of fluff involved. Credit for all references of course goes to the respective authors.**

 **This is my first-ever submission, so any comments, reviews, PMs, etc are welcome. I also accept cash, credit, and whiskey.**

 **Buckle up, y'all. This is gonna be a roller coaster.**

* * *

 **Louder Than Thunder**

Chapter 1: Recurring Nightmare

Koda caught himself before collapsing from his all-fours position. His ears rang and his head was pounding. He blinked and shook his head, but the lingering haziness persisted. A wave of nausea washed over him and his whole body tightened. He barely managed to suppress the series of dry heaves that wracked his body. He groaned as he pushed himself into a kneeling position. That was when he noticed that his face was wet. He wiped a paw along his muzzle and sat stunned as he noticed the dark red liquid that now stained his fur. He froze stone still. Blood. He checked himself, paws frantically patting down his body. He didn't feel injured and his blood-stained harness was still intact, save for a few tears in the fabric of his armor carrier, but his trousers and left sleeve had been shredded. He grimaced as he became aware of the apparent wound he had suffered and the all-too-familiar throb of several deep cuts crashed through his nerves.

A loud thud caught his attention and he snapped in its direction, paws reaching for his side arm. A tiger in the same uniform was hurriedly moving the room's furniture to block the door. Koda bowed his head with a relieved sigh. He sprang to his feet, recoiling at the pool of blood he'd just been face-down in.

"Don?" Koda cried, "What the hell happened?"

"Great Celestials!" The tiger replied, "Dude, you almost gave me a heart attack. Thought you were gonna nap all day. For now," the tiger said, "We need to-"

A sudden crash broke through the room, and both mammals took cover from the bullet that ricocheted off the wall with a violent snap and sent a cloud of powderized brick floating floorward. "Fuck!" Don cursed, "They're here early."

"Don! Seriously, what the hell?"

"Later!" The tiger yelled and readied his rifle. "Get ready to fight."

Koda reached for his weapon, only to find nothing there. "What happened to my rifle?" He asked, his voice bordered on panic.

"You don't remember anything?" Don inquired, raising an eyebrow. "Oh fuck it. Now isn't the time." The tiger fired a trio of rounds out of the window he had taken cover under and was answered by several more bullets crashing into the wall just inches from his head.

"Remember what?" Koda demanded.

"I said later!" Don shrank into cover, "Just pull your sidearm!"

Koda obeyed and drew his pistol, and took a position across the room from his partner under another window. He couldn't help but feel woefully unprepared for whatever threat it was Don had been bracing for. He scanned the room, hoping to find something, anything, to give him and his partner an advantage, but he couldn't focus. He took a deep breath to steady his nerves and checked himself again. He was mid-inspection when his eyes locked on to where it looked like the blood had been smeared on the paved surface. He followed the trail to its end.

The maned wolf went wide eyed as he focused on the stack of bodies against the wall opposite him. He staggered backward, and if not for already leaning against his partner's back, would have fallen over. His breath became ragged and shallow, and his heart nearly beat out of his chest. He didn't hear Don calling to him to calm down. He was too focused on the lifeless face of the youngest body, a cheetah cub who couldn't have been more than eight years old. Koda's eyes locked onto the young feline's body; the way his arm was broken at an unnatural angle, the way his clothes were shredded.

 _Shrapnel?_ Koda thought, as he checked his grenades. _No… Claw marks._

His eyes locked onto the dead cub's face. He leaned forward, somehow drawn to the cub as if he knew him from somewhere. Suddenly, the young cub's eyes opened. Their lifelessness locked onto Koda, somehow projecting unbridled malice. The cheetah cub unleashed a piercing screech that sent the wolf scrambling for his life, only to find that the walls themselves now seemed to be bleeding. Koda looked to Don, but was instead grabbed by a creature seemingly made of smoke. It's dagger-like eyes cut through every form of defense the wolf had been taught and felt as though they were boring into his very soul. It grinned at him, exposing a line of jagged, uneven teeth. Then the creature laughed. It laughed as it reached into and through the wolf's chest. It laughed at is grabbed hold of his heart and squeezed.

* * *

Don Rust sat in silence as his friend finished his story. He let out a deep sigh and sank deeper into his chair. His mind raced, looking for something, anything to say to help comfort his friend. His brow furrowed in consideration as the wolf continued to speak.

"That's it." Koda said with his face buried in his paws. "That's where I wake up. Every. Single. fucking time." He looked out the window at the dull orange glow of the street light. He couldn't help but think it was unusually quiet for this part of town. He tore his gaze from the window and stared at an old photo on the drab green wall. He recognized it, though it had been altered. The original photo had been a full color portrait of himself, Don, and six others from years ago. Don, in his artistic wisdom, had it printed in sepia tone before framing and mounting it. Koda scanned the image until he came to his likeness at the center of the photo. He gritted his teeth and his paws clenched into fists.

Don didn't speak as he let Koda's story sink in. Silently, he stood and headed for the apartment's diminutive kitchen. Koda heard the clinking of glasses and the tell-tale pop of a cork followed by sloshing liquid. He licked his lips through a deep breath as his friend returned. Don offered a short glass partially filled with amber liquid. Koda eagerly accepted the drink and finished it in one quick shot. He sank into his chair as a familiar warmth spread through his body.

"You know I wouldn't normally enable you like this." Don said. A scowl of concern was plastered to his features as he regarded the disheveled wolf.

"Don," Koda breathed as his eyes dropped to the floor. His shoulders slumped and his ears dropped. "I have that dream at least three times a week. And I never know when its coming. I haven't had a good night's sleep in-" The wolf shook his head with a shrug, "Weeks? Months?" He threw his paws in the air, "Fuck, years? I don't know."

Don collected the now-empty glass from his friend. "I've known you for eight years, Claws. I've never seen you like this. Not even when-" The tiger stopped with a pained breath and twitched toward the photo, "Well, you know."

"I know." The wolf said dully as his gaze returned to the floor. He clenched his eyes shut and tightened his fists as a lump formed in his throat, threatening to break his spirit entirely. He absently rubbed at the marks on his left arm where the fur had never quite grown back and barely managed to hold back the onset of a sob when a massive paw clapped onto his shoulder. Koda looked up at his friend who was now crouched before him, his shadow cast long by the table lamp.

"Claws." The tiger started. Koda could tell that his friend was choosing his words carefully by the way his tail was swishing. "Claws, as your friend I gotta ask. Have you thought about getting help? For the dreams and-" His words stopped as he jerked his head in the general direction of the empty glass that now rested uncomfortably out of reach.

"Mariah asked me the same thing this morning." Koda replied as a traitorous tear rolled down his cheek.

"You woke her up again, eh?"

The wolf simply nodded and sighed as he fought to regain control. He choked out a laugh, "I don't know how she deals with me."

"Koda." Don's voice dropped to barely more than a whisper, "Be honest with me."

Koda quirked an eyebrow at his friend. His heart started to jackhammer and his chest tightened as he anticipated the observation he knew was coming.

"I know you've got that whole 'lone wolf' thing in your head, but no one is an island unto themselves. Maybe you should talk-"

"I don't need a shrink!" the wolf's hackles began to bristle as he jumped to his feet, barely standing over the tiger crouched before him.

"Right." The tiger nodded while internally gritting his teeth. He stood with his back to his friend. "You've got a bottle with an ear to lend." The feline stepped to and opened the door to the dimly lit stairwell. "Tell Mariah I say 'hey'."

* * *

The walk to the subway station wasn't far from Don's apartment, but it gave him plenty of time to put the evening's conversation out of his mind. He spent the train ride in silence and instead focused on how he was going to explain his lateness to his girlfriend. After reaching his stop, he walked at a quickened pace, and took the stairs up to his apartment three at a time. This time of night his girlfriend was either dead asleep, or pacing around the apartment worrying her heart out. Koda's keys rattled as he fumbled in the darkness of the hallway. He bit his lip and willed the metallic clatter to silence itself as the door key finally found purchase. As quietly as he could, Koda slipped through the door and shut it while still holding the handle. He gently released the handle and sighed as he turned into his apartment. He fought the urge to slide back against the door and stay there for the rest of the night. It was either that or face-

"Koda?" A sleepy voice called from the darkness, "That you?"

The wolf sighed. _Or face Mariah._ "Ah!" He hissed at the sudden light that flooded the living room. He sheepishly grinned at the cheetah before him. As his eyes adjusted he realized she was wearing nothing but one of his old T-shirts and wiping the sleep from her eyes. He chuckled weakly and scratched the back of his head. "Hey there, Angelface."

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" she demanded, her grogginess seemingly forgotten and replaced instead by a fiery wrath. Koda flinched as he imagined literal fire in her eyes.

"Just past four AM." He offered weakly.

"Four. In. The. Morning!" She stepped closer to him, just shy of getting in his face. Her ice-blue eyes narrowed, "I was worried sick about you!" She gave him a not so subtle sniff. "Are you drunk?"

"What? No! I promised I would work on that." Koda stammered, "I- I just stopped by Don's on my way back from work. We got to talking and I lost track of the time. I had one drink. That's all, I swear." He placed a paw over his heart for emphasis.

Mariah regarded him through narrowed eyes and crossed arms. She leaned ever closer and gave him another sniff followed by a soft smile and kiss on the muzzle. "Dumb wolf. I'm glad you're alright, but you're still in trouble." She grunted and spun on her heel as she made her way back to the bedroom.

Koda sighed with a soft smile, "Ya know ya love me." He mumbled as he followed his cheetah.

"Did you say something?" Mariah asked as Koda entered the bedroom. His eyes followed Mariah as she wrapped herself up in the blankets. A soft smile cracked across his muzzle as he leaned against the door frame. "You coming to bed or what?"

Koda's ears perked up as he stepped into the room and peeled off his shirt. "Am I snuggling a gorgeous cheetah while I have the chance? Duh."

"Good, cause I have to be up in like, two hours." Koda could barely see her smile in the darkness as she nestled herself deeper under the blankets. "Now get over here, Rusty. Its like, arctic in here and I'm freezing."

A warm smile spread across the wolf's muzzle. "I can fix that."

* * *

Mariah slogged her way past the precinct door with a half-eaten bagel hanging from her mouth and a barely touched cup of coffee in her paw. She was grateful for the early morning quiet in the lobby that gave her the chance to collect herself before she reported for the morning meeting in the bullpen. She chomped down on her bagel, devouring most of what remained in a single bite as she passed by the front desk.

"Good morning Officer Kingston!" The tubby cheetah behind the desk waved, nearly spilling his bowl of Lucky Chomps. Mariah lazily waved back as she trudged by the desk sergeant and ravenously finished off her captive bagel. She stretched with a deep breath before pushing her way into the already crowded bullpen and finding herself a seat. Mariah took a grateful gulp from her coffee just before the dull roar of chatter and laughter caused her ear to flick in annoyance. She gripped her cup with both paws and focused on staying in her happy place.

"Damn, Kingston. If the bags under your eyes get any heavier they'd be considered carry-ons at the airport." The lion teased with a playful smirk.

"The Great Kings gave us coffee for a reason, Felix." Mariah replied before taking another spirited sip of the life-giving liquid. "And I'm not sharing. Koda kept me up all night again."

"Giggity." The lion grinned, cheekily raising an eyebrow.

"You know what I mean." Mariah glared at him.

"Yeah, yeah." Felix waved her off, "Also, I'm not after your mud-water."

A gasp caused the lion to turn around and Mariah to lean back over her chair to see the source. An offended looking fox stood seemingly stunned with a paw on his chest as if he had been mortally wounded and another paw firmly wrapped around a cup from the same bagel shop Mariah went to. She quirked an eyebrow at the vulpine.

"Cat got your tongue, Wilde?" Felix jabbed.

"Good sir, that 'mud-water' you're referring to is the nectar of the gods, and the only reason outstanding officers like blotchy-spots here," The fox nodded at Mariah who replied with a sarcastic scowl, "or yours truly can function this early in- Hey! Easy, Fluff! You're gonna tear it!"

"Can it, Slick. You're in enough trouble this morning." The bunny dragged the fox off by his tie to the laughter of several of the larger officers .

"Oh c'mon, Carrots, you can't still be upset with me over the Buy-One-Get-One joke."

Mariah rolled her eyes as the bunny dragged her partner to their shared seat at the front of the room. She sank into her seat at the far end of the bullpen's third row of chairs, as far away from the infamous trouble-making WildeHopps as she could get. She liked the both of them and considered them both to be friends, but she was anything but a morning mammal and separating herself from their shenanigans (at least in Chief Bogo's presence) minimized her chances of getting landed with parking duty. She still hadn't quite forgiven the fox for his prank involving replacing the jelly in Clawhauser's donuts with mustard. She had been brand new to the precinct and was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Mariah harrumphed as the memory of three days of parking duty came back to her. Wilde had of course owned up to it, but at that point the damage had been done and instead of relieving Mariah from parking duty, Chief Bogo had simply added the fox to the roster.

Mariah propped herself up on her elbow and fought down a yawn while she waited for the coffee to kick in. She silently prayed to The Great Kings that she wouldn't get caught up in whatever prank Nick seemed up to this morning. Whatever it was, she was sure it would land him with the dreaded parking duty if Bogo caught him. Mariah fought against her curiosity and glanced at her partner, who was hiding a toothy grin behind his paw. Plausible deniability. She chanted to herself as a wave of laughter rolled over the gathered officers.

"Wilde, the Chief is gonna go nuclear on you when he sees that." She heard Fangmeyer warn the fox

"You mean IF he sees it." The vulpine officer smugly corrected. "C'mon guys, go with me on this one. Just play it cool."

"If." Wolford piped up, "If is good."

"Nick! Get down from there!"

"Relax, Carrots. He won't even notice it."

Mariah's battle against her curiosity proved to be futile as she found herself leaning forward to peek around her partner's larger frame. Her eyes went wide and her paw covered her muzzle as she struggled to hold down what would surely have turned into a noisy guffaw. The clearly doctored photo of the chief Nick had posted in the top corner of the city map portrayed the bull wearing a speedo and looking uncharacteristically self-conscious about it. The pink flower-patterned inner tube float made the photo really pop in Mariah's opinion. She wondered how long it would take the chief to notice the picture among the various other photos from the watch-lists and missing mammals that adorned the wall.

Before she could follow her train of thought to a prediction, Lieutenant Higgins called the room to attention through stifled laughter. Right on cue, a massive Cape Buffalo entered the room, accompanied by cheers and hollering.

"Alright!" The chief's voice boomed, "That's enough. Everybody sit." Stifled laughs dotted the otherwise subdued silence. "I've just got two items on the docket today. First, we've got the annual Zootopia City Limits Music Festival coming up, and security preparations need to be made. Fangmeyer. Wolford. You'll take the lead on that with Officers Moony and Gulo."

A round of chatter broke out as the named officers dismissed themselves. Fangmeyer caught Mariah's eye and gave her a friendly wave as she departed.

"Second!" The Chief shouted, snapping everyone back to attention, though some snickering persisted. "We've all heard of this rumored Redstone Killer, as the media is calling it." He motioned to one of the "Wanted" photos on the wall. The image was nothing but a gray silhouette with a question mark in the middle. "It is possible that several 'accidental' deaths may in fact be related, and city hall is placing top priority on confirming these rumors of a serial killer, or putting them to bed permanently." The Chief produced a stack of red file folders. "Assignments. Snarlov, your team has lead in Tundratown." The officers stood and dismissed themselves, picking up their file on the way out. Each of the others followed suit. "Delgado, Rainforest District. Proud, you and your partner take Savannah Central."

Mariah reluctantly stood as her partner collected their case file and quietly followed him out of the bullpen. She sipped at her coffee and took in a deep breath. Her tail began swishing as she flexed and stretched, mentally pumping herself up for the day ahead. A brand new case? A possible serial killer on the loose. A smile crept onto Mariah's muzzle. She hadn't felt this excited since-

"Right." Felix slammed the file shut in Mariah's face, interrupting her reverie. "Get your morning smoke in, then we'll head out."

"What?" She rocked back on her heels, "I don't-"

Felix held up a paw, silencing the smaller feline. "One, you're not great at lying. Two, where else would you disappear to for ten minutes at a time? And Three, why are you trying to hide it anyway? Smoking isn't illegal."

"Ugh." Mariah groaned in defeat. "Who else knows?"

"Lets see. Who knows and cares?" Felix counted on his fingers, "Me obviously. Fang knows, so naturally Wolfy knows, too."

Mariah crossed her arms, "Anyone else?"

"Oh, and Chief."

She tapped her fingers as her tail started swishing. She narrowed her eyes into her best impression of Chief Bogo's trademark stare. "Not a word to Koda."

"Hey, scouts honor." The lion held up a paw with the other on his heart, "But you could just quit, you know."

* * *

Koda's eyes shot open and he took in a sharp breath. The back of his neck burned and his heart jack hammered. He groaned as he rolled over and gripped Mariah's pillow. He wrapped his arms around it and held it to his chest. It still smelled like her. He breathed in the subtle, comforting scent of open grassland and wildflowers and let it remind him that he was in a safe place. He took a moment to appreciate the comfort and to be thankful for the blackout curtains that kept out the worst of the rising sun. The white light rimmed the edge of the curtains and dimly illuminated the room. The lazy thwop-thwop of the ceiling fan was briefly drowned out by the sound of a honking car three stories below. Koda rolled over to check his phone and his ears dropped.

(8:31am)

He dropped the phone onto the red-gold fur of his bare chest. "You've gotta be kiddin' me." He groaned and buried his muzzle in his paws before retrieving his phone yet again. He tapped his contact list and scrolled until he found the name he was searching for. The phone immediately went to a voice mail message.

"This is not an answering machine-this is a telepathic thought-recording device. After the tone, think about your name, your reason for calling, and a number where I can reach you, and I'll think about returning your call." _BEEP!_

Koda sighed and ended the call. I need to remind her to update that. He scrolled back to Mariah's name and gave it a tap. Her contact photo filled the screen. The picture always made him smile. The selfie was a few months old, but none of its appeal had been lost on the wolf. He took a quiet moment to admire the crystalline eyes and glimmering smile staring at him through the screen.

The navy blue of her ZPD uniform perfectly accented the blotchy spots of her amber fur, and made the blue of her eyes shine all the brighter. Her smile in the picture was a smile that Koda had attributed to genuine happiness, with her head slightly tilted to the left and her shoulder slightly raised. He grinned at the slightly disheveled look of her hair. He loved it when she let her hair fall around her shoulders. Koda chuckled to himself, lost in the image. His admiration was interrupted by the vibration of an incoming call. He barely managed to catch the phone before it hit him in the face. With a relieved sigh he hit the answer button.

"So, ya just send me right to voice mail, now?" He teased.

"Is there anywhere else to send you?" Mariah purred before asking a rather pointed, "Shouldn't you be asleep?"

"Well, ya see, what had happened was-"

"You had that dream again, didn't you?" Mariah interrupted.

"That obvious, huh? And it's my night off, I can just sleep later." Koda said.. He ran a paw through his mane with a sheepish grin. He took a moment to be thankful that she couldn't see him. One thing he hated was looking or feeling weak in front of her. Though she had known of his difficulty sleeping and was supportive of him, he still couldn't help but feel self conscious about it from time to time.

"You're never awake this early unless you've had that dream. If the bags under your eyes get any heavier you could carry groceries in them." She paused for a second, "So, the usual then?"

"Yes please." Koda replied, half whispering. He kicked the blankets off and rose with a stretch before heading toward the kitchen.

"Well, it's gonna have to be quick." Mariah explained, "We just got out of the bullpen and we're about to start our rounds."

"I'll take what I can get." Koda's voice perked up and he felt a small but genuine smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. He stopped just shy of the kitchen to admire the photo of him and Mariah snuggled up by a campfire.

"So whaddya wanna talk about?"

Koda considered Mariah's question for a moment. He hadn't given much thought to what might calm his racing mind. "Do ya think they really faked the moon landing?" He blurted.

"We went over that last week, remember?" She replied with a short laugh, "I countered by asking why other governments would have congratulated a fake scene rather than accuse them of staging the whole thing."

"Oh. Right. Right." Koda nodded, reaching to open the fridge. He examined its contents with a disappointed scowl. Gonna have to go grocery shopping soon.

"Got any other conspiracy theories for me to debunk?" Mariah challenged. "I'm getting pretty good at it."

"Give it time. I'm working on one." Koda shut the fridge and stepped back to the living room as a moment of comfortable silence passed. "Hey, Mariah?"

"Hmm?" She purred.

"I know what I wanna talk about." Koda said, the looming smile finally won out as he vaulted over the back of the sofa and landed in a lazy half-sitting position with a soft bounce.

"You gonna try to get me to go to another mud run?" Mariah hummed.

"Remember how we met?" Koda replied with a short laugh.

Mariah chuckled, "You mean the part where you punched me in the face, or how I took you to the ground and made you cry like a baby?"

"Okay, One. I didn't cry." Koda defended, he popped up to a sitting position and he felt his ears getting warmer, "And two, you almost broke my arm."

"You deserved it." Mariah said with conviction. The image of Mariah spitting out a mouthful of blood popped into Koda's mind. He involuntarily flinched as he remembered the ferocity in her eyes that night. She might have killed him if she'd had the chance. Her intensity had immediately drawn him in, even though their first meeting had ended up with him in the back of a police cruiser.

"How did I deserve that?" Koda demanded, "You snuck up on me!"

"You're lucky it was me instead of-" A cheerful voice came through from Mariah's side, interrupting her. "Speak of the devil. Sergeant Proud is summoning me." Koda heard the voice of the lion chattering away, followed by what sounded like several commands. "Ah, crap baskets." Mariah cursed. "I gotta go."

"Ugh. Morning mammals." Koda scoffed sarcastically, eliciting a giggle from Mariah . "Did he say something about a cigarette?"

"Sorry, babe. Gotta go." Mariah hurriedly apologized. "I love you."

"I- I love you." Koda sighed, "Stay safe."

 _Click!_ The call ended. Koda stared at his phone, ears perked in confusion. He brushed off the feeling with a shrug and focused back to the night he'd met Mariah. A warm smile spread across his muzzle. That had been an interesting night to say the least. He absently rubbed his arm when his memory shifted to when she'd almost broken it that first night.

 _She's lucky I took it easy on her._

 _Yeah, yeah, tough guy. You got your ass whooped by a girl._

 _To be fair, she is faster than me._

 _She's a cheetah. She's supposed to be faster than you._

 _Yeah, but I'm better trained._

 _Pipe down. She doesn't know that._

 _Sometimes I wish I could forget._

Koda's smile degraded into an involuntary snarl and he gripped at the marks on his arm. Great. Now I've thought myself right back into shitty memories.

 _Just keep thinking about when you met Mariah._

He buried his head underneath the throw pillows, determined to get whatever sleep he could.

* * *

 _The still silence shattered at thunderous reports of close-range gunshots and terrified screaming. The gathered crowd withered as mammal after mammal attempted to escape. Some who tried to dodge were instead cut down by the incoming hail. Others tripped and were trampled by their friends, their family, and others just trying to escape. Each gunshot kicked up more and more dust, covering the streets with a haze of deep beige._

 _In the ranks of the ZDF, a young maned wolf dropped his weapon without firing a shot. His eyes locked onto a tiger sergeant who was also not firing. A wave of nausea washed over the wolf. He turned away from the massacre with tears in his eyes._ Koda realized then that he was watching his younger self in the third person as if he were watching a movie. The scene that played before him was bitter and all-too familiar.

 _"Pick up your weapon, private!" a thunderous voice commanded. "I said, pick it up!" The young wolf looked up at the massive tiger standing above him. The scar and broken fang looking down at him told the wolf all he needed to know. Captain Dawon. A coldness washed over him, and the tears immediately stopped._ The real Koda clenched his fists and gritted his teeth at the sight of the striped feline _. His hackles bristled as a low growl rumbled past his chest and escaped his lips._

 _"No, sir." The young wolf said defiantly._ Koda silently cheered for his younger self. _The young wolf held stalwartly to the menacing glare bearing down on him from his commander. The tiger un-holstered his pistol and placed the cold steel of the barrel against the wolf's forehead. "You gonna shoot me, sir?"_

 _Another terrified shriek ripped through the air above the crack of gunshots…_

* * *

Koda's eyes opened slowly, met with the fading light that receded behind the curtains. He let out a long slow breath, as he fought against the lump forming in his throat and the tears welling up in his eyes. He ran a paw through his mane and lay there, staring at the ceiling for what seemed like hours, refusing to allow any thought of his dreams to enter his mind. By the light outside, he guessed, he'd slept about three hours. The midday sun no longer had the angle to fully illuminate the living room. Koda rose from his spot on the couch and cracked his knuckles. He sat, frozen in place as his aching body screamed at him to go back to sleep. Sleep was a strong word, he believed, as it had been anything but restful. His stillness was interrupted by his phone vibrating, the light from the screen partially illuminated the spot on the ceiling he'd been staring at, and it was only then that he realized he'd allowed his eyes to go unfocused. Koda scoffed, shaking himself from his trance.

 _Don's right. You probably need therapy._

 _No, what I need is a gods-damned drink._

He checked his phone, squinting at the brightness of the screen. He read the message while wiping the sleep from one of his eyes.

(Hey Claws, Allie blessed off on that performance I was talking about. I know it's your day off, but I hope you can make it! XOXO –Kat)

 _I think I've got the cure for what ails you._

* * *

 **Notes:**

 **If you made it this far, thank you for reading! Again, this is my first-ever attempt at a fic, and I'm still trying to develop my style. If you feel so inclined, let me know what you thought. Leave a comment or a review, or feel free to PM me. I'm always open to feedback, good and bad. I aim to deliver quality work, so updates will take a while. Especially since I just started a new job.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and I'll see ya in chapter 2!**


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